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It is revealing — but by no means surprising — how conservatives reacted to the re-election of Barack Obama this week.

Most infamously, real estate developer Donald Trump lost his pea-sized mind on Twitter. Before President Obama won, Trump declared that the election had been a “total sham and a travesty.”

After the results were announced, Trump tweeted that “the world is laughing at us,” and went on to encourage “revolution.” Presumably against the duly re-elected president.

If a liberal had done that, of course, they’d be facing calls for a prosecution for treason right about now. But Trump — who later deleted his online musings — wasn’t alone.

All over the web, all over the dial, conservatives stated that the election had been stolen, that voters were fools, the vast left-wing media conspiracy was against them, or some combination of all three. Oh, yes, and that Obama was a socialist, African-born, and that America was damned to a lake of hellfire.

An Ohio Tea Party group issued a statement: “Socialists, welfare and unions took over this country yesterday. Today (we) wear black. The day America died.”

Rightist commentator John McCain (no relation) proclaimed that America was “Doomed Beyond All Hope of Redemption,” including inappropriate use of capitalization. Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro, who was on Sun News Network for much of the night, actually said: “The war begins now.” The Wall Street Journal sniffed that Obama had “won ugly.” Mark Steyn, occasional commentator on Canada’s shortcomings and full-time country club bigot, wrote that “America wants to go off the cliff,” and “so be it.” Rock star and Republican Ted Nugent pointed at “pimps, whores and welfare brats” for the loss. Former funnywoman Victoria Jackson unfunnily attacked Christians: “Thanks a lot Christians, for not showing up. You disgust me.”

There was lots of that to be seen, for those with the stomach for it. Mitt Romney and those immediately around him showed grace and dignity in defeat. America is one of the world’s great democracies, and Romney did not even hint otherwise. He in fact called for Americans to come together, and support the president.

Conservatives should heed Romney’s example. Sensible conservatives know — or should — that blaming others for their defeat is, quite literally, a self-defeating strategy. As columnist Andrew Coyne neatly put it: Republicans “have only themselves to blame.” That is, liberals didn’t win the election quite so much as conservatives lost it.

Indeed. No U.S. president has recently been elected to a second term when the economy has been as low as it has under Obama. So, how did conservatives lose?

Because the Republican Party has been taken hostage by extremists and far-right cabals like the Tea Party. Because it has been overrun by Truthers, racists, homophobes and conspiracy theorists. Because it has devolved into the Party of Hate.

There was defeated Missouri Republican Rep. Todd Akin, theorizing that the female body had a way of shutting down pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape.” There was Indiana Senate GOP candidate Richard Mourdock, stating that pregnancies resulting from rape were part of God’s plan.

In the seemingly endless race to secure the Republican presidential nomination, similarly idiotic comments were made. Rick Santorum declared that contraception is “not OK. It’s a licence to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

Similarly, Santorum said that John F. Kennedy’s suggestion that church and state remain separate made him want to “throw up.” Michele Bachmann falsely linked an Obama aide to Islamic extremism, and suggested Democrats had created a swine flu outbreak. Newt Gingrich called for capital punishment for marijuana use. And on and on.

If conservatives want to know why they lost in the U.S. — and why they may well lose up here, too — they need only do one thing. It’s simple and effective.

Look in a mirror.

Poll

Were you happy to see U.S. voters send Barack Obama back to the White House?